September 1st, 2017
by canadian author
Summary: Nineteen years later. Nineteen moments. [oneshot celebrating the epilogue]


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

 _one._

It's too cold in England for her taste. Fleur's lived in England for over 20 years but she hasn't gotten used to the weather. It's a shame really, especially because she lives on the beach so it gets colder for her faster than a lot of people. But she loves living in England with her family, even it gets too cold along the shore.

A little bit past midnight, Fleur stands with her legs in the water. The water is freezing her legs but she doesn't move. The quietness and the stillness of the night almost makes her forget what tomorrow is.

 _No._ She almost forgets what _today_ is.

"Why are you up?" she hears Bill ask her from the shore but she doesn't turn around. She keeps staring out at the ocean.

"Victoire's last year starts _today_. Zis time next year she will be an adult, out of ze house. She will not need us anymore," Fleur answers.

"Fleur…"

She turns around to look at her husband, who looks just as sad as she does. The cold wind of England passes through and chills her to the bone, making her shiver.

Bill notices this and walks up to the shoreline. He holds out his hand for her to take and smiles at her. The smile brings her back to the moment she first met him, to a different world where she wasn't a mother whose first child is about to begin their last year of school.

"Come on. It's freezing love. Let's go inside and pretend Victoire's last year doesn't start today," he offers.

Without a moment of hesitation, Fleur takes his hand.

-o-O-o-

 _two._

Hugo doesn't know why his sister is so excited. Well, he _does_ know why she's excited: she's starting _Hogwarts_ today. She's going to learn how to do magic spells, how to ride a broomstick (well she knows but now she could actually play Quidditch), and make so many new friends she'll forget all about him.

He's just a little bitter.

He's bitter that his older sister who promised him she will always be there for him is leaving him alone for the school year. Then the school year after that. And then the school year after that. But after that school year, _then_ they'll be reunited again. He wants to convince himself it isn't be a big deal, that he'll have an older sister who has a lot of wise advice to give him, but Hugo knows it'll be too late by then. She'll be a fourth year with so many friends and too many things to study for to pay attention to him when he finally comes to Hogwarts.

"Hugo, get out of bed," his mum sternly tells him. "We need to go to London to send your sister off to Hogwarts."

He just groans, turning over in his bed. His mum won't accept his answer though and pulls his covers off of him. He angrily sighs and turns onto his back so he could face his mum, who looks very upset with him right now.

"Go get changed," she tells him.

"But I don't-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer Hugo. You know what today is," she interrupts, before turning on her heel and walking out of his bedroom.

He turns his head to the nightstand at his side where an enchanted picture of him and Rose is trapped in a frame. She's sitting at the chair with a birthday cake in front of her smiling and Hugo is making silly faces behind her. It's a lovely picture, until he remembers that it was taken on her 11th birthday, just an hour before an owl showed up delivering her acceptance letter.

It's really happening.

She's really leaving.

-o-O-o-

 _three._

"Dad! You need to get up!"

"Five more minutes," Neville groans into his pillow. The amount of Firewhiskey he shared last night with some of the guys from Dumbledore's Army has finally caught up with him and he is praying that Hannah will show up with a hangover potion soon.

His 13-year-old daughter Alice shoves his shoulder and urges him to wake up. "Come on Dad! You're the _Herbology professor_! Unlike me, you actually _need_ to go to Hogwarts!"

"You do too," he mutters, though he isn't sure if she could hear it as he is speaking into a pillow. "Ministry law requires it."

"No one's gonna notice if I don't show up. I'm a student. You're a professor, who _needs_ to get up!" Alice says, continuously pushing him, which isn't helping him with his hangover.

Alice eventually stops trying to wake him up and leaves. Neville tries to get some more sleep now that she's gone, though his moments of peace are interrupted when he hears his younger daughter Augusta yell from down the hall, "Dad! Alice is upset you're not getting up so get up so she'll stop annoying me!"

"Girls, leave your father alone! He'll be up soon!" he hears Hannah say.

He turns onto his back and sees his wife carrying a cup. She offers the cup to him and he takes it without a moment of hesitation. She shakes her head disapprovingly and says, "You know I don't mind you guys having some drinks of Firewhiskey but come on. The night before school starts? Whose idea was that?"

Neville finishes the cup and lets it rest in his hands. He answers, "Seamus."

"That explains it," Hannah says, snatching the cup from his hands. "Now get ready, Professor Longbottom. First day of school is today."

He lets his head rest against his pillow and remembers whose first day at Hogwarts is today. He groans in annoyance and tells her, "Don't remind me. I've got a teach a kid named _Albus Severus_."

"You're his godfather," she tells him.

"It's still a bad name."

-o-O-o-

 _four._

"So, are you girls excited for a new year at school?" Percy asks his two daughters as Audrey drives the family to King's Cross.

"Yeah. Hufflepuff's got a shot at the Cup this year," Molly answers, looking at the new broom Audrey bought her as a parting gift longily. How Molly obtained a love for Quidditch, Percy doesn't know. Both he and Audrey are rubbish at it.

Even though he doesn't like Quidditch all that much, Percy nods and continues on the Quidditch conversation by saying, "Dom thinks Gryffindor's got a shot. And you know Louis's Captain so he'll probably end up finding the new Viktor Krum at Seeker tryouts."

"Slytherin isn't winning this year. Louis's head is big enough," Molly says, her nose scrunching up not with the thought of Slytherin, but at the thought of her cousin getting another thing to boast about. "Gryffindor maybe. They lost both their Beaters though so we could take advantage."

"Quidditch jock," Lucy mutters, earning her a jab in the stomach from Molly's broom. Lucy doesn't complain though because she's used to it; she is so much like him it scares him. It scares him she'll make the same bad decisions he made.

The car is silent for a few more minutes until Percy can't help but tell his daughters, "Make sure that this year you-"

"Get top marks," Molly and Lucy say in unison.

"No," he says with seriousness that catches them by surprise. "Look out for each other."

-o-O-o-

 _five._

"I'm nervous," Fred tells George.

George looks at his son as he pushes his trolley towards the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾ to start a new year. Fred's eyes are still forward, as if he doesn't want anyone nearby-probably Roxanne who is trailing behind them with Angelina-to know that he's talking to his dad about a potentially emotional topic.

"About?"

"Quidditch tryouts," he says, looking at the broom that is on his trolley. "I mean, you were a _great_ Beater. Uncle Oliver said you and Uncle Fred were the best Gryffindor ever had."

George snorts. "Course he did."

"What if I don't make the team? I mean, I don't want to let you or Uncle Fred down," Fred continues, eyes still straight forward as if he's a horse in a race.

There's a pain in George's heart when he hears his son say that. He doesn't want to let him _and_ Fred down. George supposes that naming his son after his dead brother put some unrealistic expectations on him. George didn't mean for that to happen; he just wanted to finish the promise he and Fred made before the Battle of Hogwarts that if either of one of them were to die, the living one would name their firstborn son after them.

George stops his son from moving any further by placing a hand on his shoulder. Fred looks at him with nervousness in his eyes that George has never seen before.

"Fred, you're never gonna let me down. The only wrong thing you could ever do in my eyes is for you to believe in those stupid blood prejudices that took my ear and countless lives." George takes in a deep breath, trying desperately to find the right words to say. "And as for for your Uncle Fred? Well, he was an easy to please guy. Only way I reckon for you to let him down was not stand up for something you believe in."

After five long seconds, his son hugs him tighter than he ever has before, tighter than from when he sent him off to Hogwarts for the first time two years ago, tighter than from when he first told him about his namesake.

-o-O-o-

 _six._

"Mum, why doesn't Al want to be in Slytherin?"

Ginny looks down at her daughter, who has an expression that is very common with kids her age: curiosity. She doesn't mind her daughter being curious about the world but she's growing up in a world still healing after a war. It's so easy for her entire childhood to come crashing down because someone gave her too much information.

"Well, it's-"

"Louis is in Slytherin. Does he just not like Louis?" Lily interrupts, watching her dad and Albus run in through the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾.

Ginny sighs. "You're gonna hear a lot of bad things about Slytherin, Lily. A lot of people don't like them."

"Why? Is it because they don't like the shade of green they wear? Or did they do something bad?"

The last sentence catches Ginny by surprise. Lily looks up at her and asks, "Mum, is something wrong? Is it about the Slytherins?"

Ginny is caught surprised by her second question yet again. How she came to that conclusion frightens her. She promised herself when she had James that she'd make sure they wouldn't know about the true causes of the war until they turned 11. So far she's kept that promise but now it seems that her daughter found out before she got the chance to tell her.

"What did the Slytherin house?" Lily innocently asks.

"The Slytherin house did nothing. Bad witches and wizards did something," she tells her.

To her relief, Lily accepts that as the full answer.

-o-O-o-

 _seven._

He's here.

Draco could see him from across the platform. He hasn't seen him in a few years in person but he's seen him in pictures in the _Daily Prophet_ a lot. Draco was right in his second year when he said he can't even go to a bookstore without making the front page.

"Dad," Scorpius says with wide eyes, tugging on his dad's robes, "is that _Harry Potter_?"

"Yes Scorpius," Draco tells him.

"Can we go say hi?" he asks.

His head snaps back to face his son, who has a light and hopefulness in his eyes that Draco didn't have in his own eyes at his age. That fact itself just fills him with pride that maybe, just maybe, he's raising Scorpius right. He has a hunch that Astoria is the one mainly responsible though.

"I suppose Potter- _Harry_ -doesn't want to see me right now son," he says, brushing his robes down.

"You could say hi to his kids though," Astoria tells him. "James is a third year and I heard they have a son going into his first year like you."

"But what if I say the wrong thing? I mean, he's _Harry Potter's son_. There's a good chance he'll just outright hate me to begin with. There's no way he'll be my friend. Mum, I don't even know _how_ to make friends."

There is another big difference between himself and Scorpius: Scorpius doesn't have the same cockiness that he possessed at his age. He gets nervous around people he isn't familiar with and doesn't boast about himself. Draco doesn't know how to help him. When he was his age he made friends because of his name; ironically that's how he lost his friends. He supposes his advice won't help Scorpius make friends.

"Oh just be yourself sweetie," Astoria says, kissing Scorpius on his forehead.

Astoria says her goodbyes to Scorpius, who is still fretting about making friends. Draco lifts his head to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny putting their children's stuff on the train. No doubt they still hate him after everything he's done to them and he can't blame them. They grew up to be the heroes to save the world; he grew up to be a pawn in Voldemort's plan. He won't admit it him but he admires what they did in the war and hopes that Scorpius could be more like them than him.

Out of respect, Draco nods.

-o-O-o-

 _eight._

"So, Head Girl huh?" Dominique says to her sister as they push their trolleys towards the train. "I wonder what extra perks you'll get. More biased grading? More points to your house?"

Victoire snorts. "The only perk I'd consider is that I get my own dorm. But I also have to share it with a guy. And I don't even know which guy made Head Boy yet."

She nudges her sister suggestively and she says, "Ooh…..don't let Teddy know."

"La ferme," Victoire tells her, pushing her trolley up on ahead.

"Oh come on! I'm only joking," Dominique says, rushing to keep up with her. "You're no-are you kidding me?"

Victoire stops pushing her trolley and looks at her sister, who is standing there with a slightly surprised and slightly annoyed expression. Curious about who her sister is looking at, Victoire looks in her direction. She doesn't see anyone they'd recognize, until she sees him, pushing through the crowd of people and muttering apologies. He doesn't stop until he's right in front of her, still wearing that infamous smile that could still make her heart beat rapidly and turquoise hair that is just as iconic as Harry's scar.

"Hey Vic," Teddy greets.

"Hey," she replies. She's trying to remember the last time she saw him. He's been too busy with his Auror training to check up on her regularly. He could see the Potters four days a week but he can't respond to her letters.

There's an undeniable amount of tension that Dominique attempts to cut by saying, "So, my OWLs are this year. I wonder if-"

"Can we talk Vic? In _private_?" Teddy interrupts. Victoire wonders if he even heard Dominique speak at all because his eyes haven't left hers the whole time. She's one to talk though; she hasn't stopped staring into his.

She tears her eyes away from Teddy to glance at her sister, who is mouthing in French: Go for it. Victoire then looks back at Teddy, who looks very nervous about what her answer will be.

"Yeah. Let's talk."

-o-O-o-

 _nine._

Lily hugs her cousin Hugo upon seeing him. It hasn't been long since he last saw him-just a few days ago she saw him at the dinner their Grandma Molly held at the Burrow-but he just looked like he could use a hug once she saw his sad expression.

"Are you alright?" she whispers to him so none of the adults will hear.

"Yeah. Why?" he says.

"You look pretty sad," she tells him. She looks up to find Rose, standing in her Hogwarts robes already. Lily hasn't seen her look that excited since they were at the Quidditch World Cup a few years ago.

She pulls back from the hug and asks him, "Is it cause Rose is leaving?"

Hugo doesn't answer, though she knows by the fact he is looking everywhere else but Rose that she's right. She slings her arm around his shoulder and tells him, "Oh it's alright! You've still got me and Roxanne and-!"

"Roxanne is gone next year. You leave a year before me. I'll be alone for that year," he points out.

"Well there's Augusta and the Scamanders. I'm sure you could hang out with them," Lily says.

"Lorcan's weird. He's always talking about whatever new creature his mum found," he says.

She jabs him in the side. She glares at him and firmly tells him, "His mum is my _godmother_ so shut up Hugo. And Lorcan's just interested in things that you aren't interested in."

Hugo sighs and she shakes her head disapprovingly in response. She whispers to him, "Come on Hugo. Cheer up. You can't believe that I was happy when James left or that I'm happy right now that Al is leaving. We're all pretty upset our siblings are going on with the rest of their lives without us but they're going to _Hogwarts_. Be happy for Rose."

Lily gestures to Rose, who doesn't look any less excited than she did a few moments ago. She looks at him and he sighs in defeat. She grins at him, believing her advice actually worked.

"Fine," Hugo mutters.

"Good!" Lily exclaims, oblivious to the fact that he is not fine. "So, what house you think you'll be in? I think I'll end up in Gryffindor."

For the rest of the conversation, Lily doesn't notice that he can't meet her eyes.

-o-O-o-

 _ten._

After loading his stuff onto the Hogwarts Express, James wanders Platform 9 and ¾. There's still enough time for him to say goodbye so he tries to find his friends. There are a couple adults looking at him strangely, no doubt recognizing him as Harry and Ginny's firstborn son. He doesn't have time to deal with people recognizing him; he needs to find his friends.

With the amount of people on the platform, he ends up getting lost between the sea of people and ends up towards the back of the platform where there are much less people. It's more secluded. It's the kind of place he and his troublemaking friends would hang out so he can't help but continue searching it in hopes of finding them.

He doesn't find his friends though.

Instead, James finds his cousin Victoire with her back leaning against the wall as she snogs Teddy Lupin. He stands there, gaping in shock. Neither Victoire nor Teddy seem to notice him though as they continue to snog, letting their hands run all over each other.

"What are you doing?!" James shouts.

They break apart. Their faces are flushed and their hair is messed up. James thinks he may throw up at the thought of Victoire and Teddy snogging like that in public.

"I'm seeing her off," Teddy replies.

"You and I have very different versions of how to see someone off," James says.

Victoire lets out a laugh while Teddy rolls his eyes. He gestures with his hand for him to go away and commands, "Go away James."

He does go away though. He runs away from them, ready to tell his parents what he just saw.

-o-O-o-

 _eleven._

Teddy turns his head back to his girlfriend, who is laughing hysterically. He loves her laugh. It's so lighthearted and carefree and it's the epitome of all things beautiful in the world. Perhaps he's being a little overdramatic but he is so in love with her he's accepted it.

"What are you laughing at?" he asks her.

"James is gonna tell _everyone_ we're snogging and no doubt my dad is gonna lecture you on not snogging me in public again," Victoire says.

Teddy groans and lets his head fall onto her shoulder. He appreciates how much her dad looks out for her-he hopes that his dad would have looked out for him as much as her dad does if he was alive-but at the same time, Teddy is often the one to suffer because of his overprotectiveness.

"You're 17. You're an adult in the wizarding world," he murmurs.

"Yeah but he's still my _dad_. He's gonna be protective of me no matter how old I get," Victoire tells him.

They stay like that for a few peaceful moments until Teddy picks his head up. He looks over at the mass amounts of people to see more and more people saying goodbye and more and more children sending their kids on the Hogwarts Express. It's almost time.

He sighs and leans his forehead against hers. "Do you have to go? You're a bloody genius. I'm sure you could just skip your last year and start Healer training."

"Can't. Not done learning yet," she says.

"Stupid Ravenclaws," Teddy mutters, earning him a slap on the arm.

Neither of them move from their spots until Victoire tilts her head up to kiss him softly on the lips, very different from how they kissed earlier. She pushes him away from her softly and she stops leaning against the wall in favor of standing upright now. He takes her hand into his own in hopes of keeping her with him for just a few more moments.

"I have to go," she whispers.

"I know," he responds.

A few peaceful moments later, Victoire sighs and pulls her hand away. He watches her walk away and disappear into a cloud of steam. Teddy sighs and runs his hand through his hair, wondering how long it'll be until he sees her again.

"I love you," he whispers, even though he knows that she knows that.

-o-O-o-

 _twelve._

Ron looks down at her daughter, who is currently being hugged by Hermione. Hermione is giving her advice, though some of the advice doesn't apply anymore now that Hogwarts isn't in constant danger of being attacked. He lets her listen though, mainly because it could really help her should anything bad happen. God forbid anything bad happen but it won't hurt her to know how to take care of herself.

Hermione finally lets her daughter go so that he could say goodbye to Rose. She looks at him with hopeful eyes. She's been talking about going to Hogwarts for years.

"I'll send you a letter when I get in Gryffindor," Rose says with the same confidence only children could have.

"You don't have to be in Gryffindor, Rose." The rest of his family looks at him confused at the prospect of him being okay with his daughter not being in Gryffindor. "What? I'm being honest. I was just joking around earlier. Rose, you could be in _any_ house you want. You too Hugo when you go to Hogwarts."

Hugo looks quite happy at the news while Rose just shrugs. She says, "I've always wanted to be in Gryffindor, Dad."

Ron smiles at her. She's always wanted to be a Gryffindor. When she was a baby, she always wanted to play with just her lion plush toy. She only ever wanted to wear red when she was younger and boasted about wanting to be in Gryffindor. Even if she possesses the qualities of another house, Ron knows she'll ask the Sorting Hat to be in Gryffindor.

Rose looks over at Scorpius and tells her dad, "Scorpius doesn't look like much competition, Dad. There is _no_ way he will beat me."

"You know should know that his dad was always behind me in school," Hermione chimes in.

Rose just shrugs nonchalantly. "I'll beat him. I don't care how smart his dad was. _My_ mum was the brightest witch of her age."

Hermione looks at him with a curious expression and Ron could only shrug. She kept their kids away from just about everything that talked about them and their accomplishments so they wouldn't get big heads. Ron on the other hand couldn't help but boast to his children all about them. Well, he mainly boasted about his wife. Can you blame him though?

"Just make sure you have fun," Ron tells her, pulling her in for a hug. "I don't care what house you're in, what grades you get, or even if you make the Quidditch team or not-have fun. You've only got seven years at Hogwarts. It may sound like a lot but trust me, it's not. Enjoy them while you can."

Rose looks at up at her dad and asks with a devious smirk on her face, "And what if I befriend someone like, say Malfoy?"

He knows she's just asking that to annoy her but he still sighs and replies genuinely, "Yeah. You can befriend Malfoy."

Hermione looks at him with a small smile and they both know that in that moment, they're sure that she'll probably befriend Scorpius just to annoy him.

-o-O-o-

 _thirteen._

Rose cannot believe Albus is sitting there in a compartment with _Scorpius Malfoy_. She was just joking to her dad earlier when she said she wanted to befriend him. She didn't _actually_ want to befriend him. It's not just because he'll probably be her biggest competition; it's because his dad helped Voldemort, her parents' biggest enemy.

She's been wandering the train and was told by Matthew Wod that one of her cousins is inside the compartment in front of her. She opens the compartment door to find Louis sitting in his compartment with a few of his Slytherin friends.

Louis waves and greets, "Hey Rose."

"Hey," she greets with a smile though it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

She's about to leave because there is _no_ way she's sitting in there with all of Louis's Slytherin friends when they're all looking at her with a distaste evident in their faces. She's met them before when she visited Hogwarts to watch a Quidditch game and they all hated her before she could get a single word out.

Rose is about to leave when Louis says, "Come get a seat. We're talking about Quidditch."

"Well…"

"She's not gonna sit with us Louis. She _hates_ us Slytherins doesn't she?" Regina Zabini tells her. She glares at her intensely.

Rose wants to deny, say that she _does_ like Slytherins, but they're all glaring at her. They, and probably everyone else in Slytherin, decided a long time ago that Rose hates Slytherins, even if she never met them before. They all just figured that from birth she'd hate them. Every time she denies this fact, they refuse to believe it. His dad says they do it because they want a reason to hate her but she doesn't believe it.

"Save the drama queen act for another time Regina," Louis says.

He stands up from his seat and joins Rose outside the compartment, prompting Levi Warrington to ask him, "Dude, where are you going? We need to talk about who is gonna be the new Beater and Seeker."

"Stop stereotyping my cousin as someone who hates all Slytherins just because of her parents and I'll come back," Louis tells them.

"You're the _captain_ ," Malachi Flint says.

He doesn't say anything. Rather, he slams the compartment door shut and turns to Rose. She can't believe he just did that; Louis _loves_ Quidditch.

"Why'd you do that?" Rose asks.

Louis just shrugs and he starts walking down the corridor. She trails after him. He tells her, "My friends...they pretty much refuse friendship from anyone outside of Slytherin cause they're sure that everyone hates them for being in Slytherin. And they're not wrong. Lots of people hate us."

"I don't hate you guys," Rose honestly tells him.

"Lots of people do," he responds casually.

"Well _I_ don't. Not everyone in Slytherin is evil like how not everyone in Gryffindor is good. You guys just got wrongly stereotyped. It's unfair, it really is because there were plenty of people who sided with Voldemort that _weren't_ in Slytherins," she says.

"So you won't care if Albus will be in Slytherin?" he asks

"No. I won't," Rose says without a moment of hesitation or a drop of doubt in her voice.

-o-O-o-

 _fourteen._

"Albus Potter!"

Everyone is staring at him as he walks up to the stool to get sorted. Both Rose and Scorpius have been sorted; the former got into Gryffindor like she wanted and the latter got into Slytherin like he expected. Right now, he supposes those two houses are the ones he'll most likely be in. Albus feels as if he has to chose between Rose and Scorpius and he'd rather not make that choice.

The Sorting Hat is placed upon his head. It says in a small voice, "Hmmm, you already remind me of your father: great potential, the need to prove yourself. You've got brains, I'll admit. But I suppose you'd rather be in Gryffindor like your parents."

 _I talked to my dad about that actually. You don't need to put me in Gryffindor. I'll be happy with whatever house I'm in_ , he thinks.

"Really?" the Sorting Hat says in surprise.

 _Yeah_ , Albus tells it.

"Well this is wonderful. I could _actually_ consider your options unlike with your father. Your mum on the other hand was a natural Gryffindor," it tells him. "Hufflepuff's out of the question. You are a bright kid, I could tell that much already. You're observant, crafty. You got big hopes for yourself. You'd make a good Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Now as for Gryffindor, you're not as brave as your parents were. Don't be too offended."

 _Oh yeah, I'm not offended at all_ , he remarks.

"Ha," it whispers. "I like you kid. So now it's between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. You've got the natural brains and wit but you don't have that love for learning lots of Ravenclaws have. You get what I'm saying kid?"

 _Yep_ , Albus answers, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat roars, making almost all of the Great Hall drop even more silent than it was during his sorting.

With a proud smile on his face, he walks to the Slytherin table and takes a seat next to Scorpius.

-o-O-o-

 _fifteen._

Harry sits on the couch in his living room next to Ginny, who has already dived into her next article for the _Daily Prophet_. He takes nice, long sips from his tea. The house is much quieter with James and Albus at school and Lily over at the Burrow to play with Hugo, Roxanne, Augusta, and the Scamanders. It's so quiet in comparison to how much noise and chaos that has been going on in their house for the past two months.

"How do you think he's doing?" Ginny asks, her voice evidently laced with worry. They haven't been this nervous for James because he was a natural extrovert and was much more confident than Albus is.

"I'm sure he's alright," Harry tells her.

She stops typing her article and leans back against the couch. She lets her head rest onto Harry's shoulder and she says, "No matter how many times you say that, I still get worried Harry. I know that he's brilliant but he's a quiet kid. I hope he'll be able to make friends."

"He has like a million cousins with him. They'll look out for him. I'm sure of it," he assures her.

"Are you sure of it or are you just saying that so I won't worry?"

He's not too sure actually. Victoire and Dominique are a few years older than him so he doubts he'll see much of them. Louis and Molly look out for all of their cousins but Louis is obsessed with Quidditch and Harry doubts Albus will be in Hufflepuff. James and Fred are too busy pranking and Lucy is too busy reading. The biggest hope for Albus is Rose but they may be in different houses so even that hope is fleeting.

There's also the problem of him being famous. All of the cousins had to deal with people wanting to be their friends because they were relatively famous so no doubt a lot of people will want to be friends with him for the wrong reasons. Harry hopes he'll be able to know the difference between those people and friends.

But then he remembers who his son is.

He remembers that when Albus was young, he'd somehow be able to control his accidental magic to battle against James whenever he'd pick on him. He remembers that time when Albus got lost in London and was able to get back to the house. He remembers that when Albus was in primary school, he was far ahead of the other kids. Albus is a quiet kid who is very capable of taking care of himself. He's pretty different from Harry himself and James but that's a good thing.

"If he doesn't change a thing about himself, he'll be alright," Harry tells Ginny without a bit of unwavering doubt in what he just said.

-o-O-o-

 _sixteen._

Dear Mum and Dad,

I just got sorted into Slytherin. The Sorting Hat was talking about putting me in Hufflepuff for a little bit. It said that I was really loyal and fair and kind but I asked for it to be in Slytherin. Don't think that I just joined Slytherin because I wanted to uphold the Malfoy tradition but I've always wanted to be in Slytherin. I like what Slytherin values-ambition, preservation, resourcefulness. I think it'll be good for me.

I've got three other roommates. Christopher is a muggleborn and I talked to him about some of their technology. Do you know they have moving pictures too? It's phenomenal! To fly, instead of using broomsticks, they use things called planes and Christopher told me they could hold hundreds of people at once. And they communicate through things called cell phones. Christopher said he had one but had to leave it behind.

Drake is alright. He's a little bit arrogant if you ask me. He likes boasting about himself and he won't leave Albus alone. Albus is my third roommate. Yeah, Albus Potter is a Slytherin. I was pretty shocked too but he seems to be happy-even if we are in the dungeons. (Why are we in the dungeons?) He's nice to me. He sat with me on the train even though his cousin Rose left. She was really pretty. I think I made a bit of a fool of myself when I was talking to her but I talked to people just like you told me to. But back to Albus, I think he and I are friends now. Or at least I hope so.

I talked to Louis Weasley today. He approached me! Can you believe it? He's like the best Chaser Hogwarts has ever seen and he's only fourteen! I can't believe he talked to me! I mean, of course he went to talk to Albus because he's his cousin but still, I talked to him. He said that I could tryout for the Quidditch because he and the other captains got rid of the first year rule. He said he's got an opening at Keeper and Seeker. The tryouts are coming up soon so I'll let you know if you make it. Do you think I could make it? Louis said I've got the right build for Seeker so I'm hoping I could make it.

I'm kind of nervous about classes. I know you guys have always said that I'm a smart kid but I do hope that I'll do good in my classes. Who knows? Maybe I'll even be a Prefect. Maybe even Head Boy. Wouldn't that be cool? The Head Boy gets their own dorm so that sounds like fun. Drake's already making a mess in the dorm so I wouldn't mind my own dorm.

Well, I've got to get some sleep. I still can't believe I'm actually at Hogwarts. I do hope these next seven years will be as fun as you guys told me it'll be. I know Hogwarts wasn't that fun for you guys because of the war but I'll have enough fun for all three of us.

Love,

Scorpius

-o-O-o-

 _seventeen._

"Hugo, why are you still up?" Hermione asks her son.

He's lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Usually after spending a few hours with his friends at the Burrow, he's so tired he falls asleep immediately but the case today. Curious as to why her son is still awake, Hermione makes her way over to his bed and sits down alongside him.

"I can't sleep Mum," he admits.

"Why?" she asks.

Hugo doesn't speak for a few more moments before he lets out a nervous breath. He says, "I...I miss Rose. I didn't think that I'd miss her as much as I do but I miss her a lot."

"I miss her too Hugo but she had to go to school. She's 11 now," she says.

"Why did she have to? Why'd Hogwarts have to be a boarding school? Did they want to purposely separate families?" he asks.

Hermione wants to inform him that it was stated in _Hogwarts: A History_ that Hogwarts was made a boarding school, along with the rest of the wizarding schools, in order to prevent students from exposing their magic to muggles even more than they're able to do right now but she figures that her son doesn't want to hear it.

"I wish I could go with her," he says.

"No you don't," she tells him, making him look curiously at her. "You're only eight. Don't think so much about growing up. Trust me, it's not as fun as you'd think it'd be. Enjoy not needing to go to Hogwarts. Enjoy the simple muggle homework. You're only gonna be a kid once Hugo so don't spend it wishing that that you could grow up."

Hugo continues to stare up at the ceiling, making Hermione nervous that maybe her speech didn't work. A few moments later, Hugo speaks up to say, "Mum, you think she'll still hang out with me when I go to Hogwarts? She'll be a fourth year by then, probably with lots of friends and maybe a boyfriend."

"One, your sister is _not_ getting a boyfriend when she'll be in her fourth year. Your father will probably blow a fuse." Hugo laughs at that. "Two, if Rose won't be your friend when you go to Hogwarts, just let me know and I'll knock some sense into her. No daughter of mine will ignore their sibling like that."

He turns his head towards her and he smiles. He says, "Thanks Mum."

"Your welcome Hugo," she tells him, standing up off the bed. "Now go get some sleep. I'll take you and the other midgets out to a muggle carnival tomorrow."

"Yay!" he cheers. The fact that her son is happy for just about the first time today nearly makes her forget that she just promised him that she'll bring him, Lily, Roxanne, Augusta, Lorcan, and Lysander to a carnival.

-o-O-o-

 _eighteen._

Luna walks into the living room of her house where Rolf is sitting down with a cup of tea in his hands. Lorcan and Lysander are asleep on either side of him. A smile spread across his face as she looks at the peaceful sight before her.

"Hey love," Rolf greets, taking a sip from his tea. "What's that letter in your hands?"

"Oh yeah," she absent-mindedly says, as she had forgotten about the letter she just received. "It's from Hermione. She said she promised Hugo she'd bring the kids to a carnival tomorrow so she's inviting Lorcan and Lysander to go."

"Oh they'll love that," he says, looking down at their sons who are are fast asleep already.

"Good. I'll write back to her soon," Luna says, taking a seat on the chair next to her husband.

She looks at her two sons. They both went to sleep just about immediately once they got home from hanging out at the Burrow with the other kids. She loves those two so much. She was pretty skeptical about raising kids but she has no regrets now. She loves them more than she could have ever imagined.

"You know this time in four years, they'll be in Hogwarts," Rolf says, staring at their kids with amazement. "I hope they'll never grow up."

"I heard about a way to do that. They say there's a fountain in Norway that could keep kids forever young," Luna informs him.

"I guess we're going to Norway," he jokes with a smile.

"Guess so," she replies, smiling back at him.

-o-O-o-

 _nineteen._

McGonagall walks into her office as Headmistress and is greeted by murmurs of hellos from portraits of old Headmasters. The Headmistress nods curtly at the portraits but there are two portraits that she can't ignore.

"Hello Albus. Hello Severus," she greets to the two past Headmasters she knew the best.

"Minerva," Dumbledore greets kindly while Snape just ignores her as per usual.

"You should know that Albus Severus Potter just started school today," she informs them.

When she sees Snape look disgusted at the reminder that Harry named his second son after him, she adds in, "You should know he was sorted into Slytherin."

"Really?" Snape asks curiously.

"Yes. Yes he was," she says matter-of-factly, taking her seat at her desk.

Snape remains silent after that but Dumbledore doesn't. He says, "So, you think it'll be a good year Minerva?"

"I suppose," McGonagall remarks.

Moments later, Neville walks inside of her office. She raises an eyebrow at him curiously and he tells her, "James, Fred, Matthew, and Scarlett set off fireworks in the Gryffindor common room. I gave them detention but I insisted that you give them your annual speech about not trying to get in trouble."

She sighs and gestures for him to let them in. James Potter walks in, a confident smirk on his face with his cousin Fred Weasley by his side. Matthew Wood trails after with Scarlett Jordan alongside him, a broad smile across her face. They all take a seat in front of her while Neville watches from the background.

"You guys set off fireworks?" she asks.

"Yep," James says without a hit of regret in his voice.

McGonagall sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She tells them, "It hasn't even been _one day_ and you guys are already pulling pranks."

"Nothing wrong with starting early," Matthew remarks.

She shakes her head. As much as she is amused by this quartet of pranksters because of how much they remind her of another troublemaking group consisting of four Gryffindors, she can't help but feel exhausted with the idea of this going on for the rest of the year. She's not getting any younger.

But at the same time she is alive.

She survived the Battle of Hogwarts. She survived and across the office is the boy who destroyed Voldemort's last Horcrux. Four children, all children of survivors, sit in front of her with their veins pumping from after just pulling a prank because they can pull pranks without worry of being physically harmed as a punishment. More children of survivors are asleep in Hogwarts right now; even more are at home with their parents who survived. Those who survived still remember those who didn't and will never forget them. The world is at peace because of their efforts. Their deaths were not in vain.

A smile forms on her face against her will and she laughs, despite the confused expressions on everyone else's faces.

"Are you alright?" Fred asks concerned.

"All is well," she assures him. "All is well."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Okay. September 1st is almost over from where I live and it's over in England but it took me all day to write and edit this and I'm just proud I got this out on time. It's pretty long but honestly at this point I've given up on writing short oneshots.**

 **Make sure to review and favorite**


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